Because, for whatever reason, the band, while frustratingly awaiting its new material getting all set to go up for sale on that online retailer, passed those same cuts our way, too.

And, hell yeah, we're glad that they did: These two new songs — one called “Tell It Like It Is” and another called “Prize to Find” — are being packaged together by the band as a short, teaser release of sorts called Texas Heavy; and, very much so, they live up to their own lofty billing.

Lucky us, then, that the group's given us the OK to post these new songs for your streaming pleasure, iTunes be damned. Check 'em out.

These songs, the band tells us, are just the start of a little something new from the group, too. More releases like these — excess recordings from the group's recording sessions for its sophomore Honcho LP — are on the way as additional teasers from the band as it prepares to release its next, almost finished and already-recorded third LP.

In addition to digital iTunes releases, this short Texas Heavy batch, as well as future ones, will be available for purchase on vinyl right here, as well as at the band's live shows.

As for that next full-length? Well, the band has this much to say: “It'll feel a lot more like Texas Heavy than Honcho.”

Well, alright then. All the more reason to be stoked on this new two-fer.

Pete is the founder, editor and president of Central Track. He is the former music editor of the Dallas Observer. His work has been published in The Daily Beast, Deadspin, LA Weekly, Village Voice, Spin Magazine, The Miami Herald and The Toronto Star, among other major publications. The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has honored his long-form narrative writing and his blogging efforts alike. In 2009, NBCDFW.com named him one of the 25 Most Interesting People in DFW, a fact he remains all too eager to bring up at dinner parties.